It is Rupert Pennefather as Aminta, however, who truly embodies the precision of the Ashton style, partly because there is a recurring phrase in Aminta's solo that refers to the shape made by an arm that has just released an arrow from a bow. Throughout 'Sylvia' the bow and arrow serves Ashton well as a metaphor for the principle of classical ballet in which contradictory forces counter each other like two hands drawing apart from a centre-point, maintaing a taut line that is expressed in the moment of release. Pennefather's impressive performance, at once gravid and light with a sense of power in store, marks him out as a rising star of the Royal Ballet.